8 Ways to Save When Buying a New Construction Home

1. Always use an agent - This is of no cost to you, so it should be a "no brainer"! The builders agents, despite being polite and helpful, look out for their employers best interests. Shouldn't' somebody be looking out for yours? A good real estate agent can guide you through the entire process - from finding the right community and home, through the contract to the closing table. This is so important to do that the builders actually put aside money to pay for you to have an agent represent you. If you don't use an agent, they simply keep this money.
2. Take advantage of the LinkUp Realty 1% exclusive rebate program - We have a great rebate program which will give you a 1% rebate / discount on ANY new construction home with ANY builder, just for using us as your agents. We take our commission that the builder pays us, and share it with you. We have done this in over 500 transactions and have paid well over 1 million in rebates to new home buyers such as yourself. If you don't take advantage of this program, or have purchased without this program, you have without a doubt paid too much for your home. Find out more information about this excellent program.
3. Hire a home inspector - A home inspector will visit your new construction home multiple times through the construction process in order to help insure things are being built as they should. In Jacksonville alone each year there are tens of millions in settlements for poorly constructed homes, most of which could have been avoided if a home inspector were used. Sometimes an inspectors findings can even be used to negotiate additional incentives prior to closing. Contact me today to be connected with a certified home inspector.
4. Do some upgrades outside of closing - It is just a fact that most builders have a very high mark up on "upgrades". We recommend doing non structural upgrades after closing to save 30%-50%. Some of these items such as fences, ceiling fans, irrigation systems, gutters, lighting fixtures and custom painting.
   
5. Take advantage of bond money - Many home buyers are taking advantage of bond programs available for first time home buyers. There are programs that are easy to qualify for and give as much as 22,500 to be used towards downpayment or closing costs. This money doesn't have to be paid back. For most of these programs, a "first time buyer" is defined as someone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years. Usually income for the household must be under 78,000 annually as well. Go here to qualify for this program.
6. Buy a spec or inventory home - Most builders seem to have the most flexibility on "spec" or inventory homes that can close quickly. If you build out a home from scratch you can usually get exactly what you want, you will likely pay extra for this... Of course, in a market where prices are appreciating you will also potentially have some equity in your home by the time it is built out too. Right now there are excellent incentives in neighborhoods like Bartram Park, Samara Lakes and Sebastian Cove, as well as many others.
   
7. Time it right - Builders do periodic "sales" typically in order to sell inventory or spec homes in a desired time frame. Find out when a builders fiscal year is ending. You can rest assured you can get the best deal possibly if you can close just prior to a fiscal quarter or year ending. Builders also periodically do interest rate buy downs or additional closing incentives, throw in extra upgrades ect... from time to time. Prior to talking about price, as if there are any sales coming up in the near future.
8. Negotiate upfront AND before closing - Before going to contract, make sure to negotiate as much as possible. One of the easiest items to negotiate is the lot premium. Other items to negotiate are additional closing costs, rate buy down, additional upgrades ect... A good real estate agent will know how to help with this as well. In addition, if defects are found from inspections or items are not completed as agreed, this can be amunitiion to get additional incenvives prior to closing.
   

The process of buying a new construction home is not as simple as you would think and can be quiet a big headache. My job is to get rid of your headaches and help make the transaction go as smoothly as possibly. Please contact me to talk about how I may be able to assist at (904)625-7455 when you get a minute to discuss things

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